City confidentiality protected in latest updates to clean energy siting proposal

This year’s clean energy siting bill has not slowed down since its introduction in the House in early January. It recently moved into the Senate, after picking up a third set of amendments on the House floor, with a small improvement for cities.

AWC has been closely tracking HB 1216 and the several iterations the bill has taken while moving through the Legislature. You can find our previous coverage of the bill here and here.

The latest round of amendments adds local governments and federally recognized Indian Tribes to the entities that may not be prohibited from entering into a nondisclosure agreement when participating in the coordinated permitting process. This allows cities to protect confidential business information, trade secrets, financial information, or other proprietary information.

Other amendments further address the state’s interactions throughout the siting process with federally recognized Tribes, update requirements for counties and make definitional changes within the bill.

HB 1216 is scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Environment, Energy & Technology Committee on Wednesday, March 15 at 8 am.